Chapter 102: Hard Enough

I didn’t get much rest that night, despite being bone tired from all the running and fighting, instead finding myself rolling back and forth into the long hours of the night. I couldn’t even blame my accommodations for that, since the mattress was actually pretty comfortable; I had no idea what it was stuffed with, but the softness beat most of the hotel beds I’d stayed in hands down. It was probably a combination of stress and my plans for the future being turned on their head, since the last time I slept so poorly was the first night after my pension fraud was uncovered. I still slept in my own bed that night, since all the police officer did was take my statement and schedule an initial interview; there simply weren’t enough empty spaces in jails to detain non-violent white collar criminals pending trial, and I still barely got a wink of sleep. There was no way to tell the time, this deep underground, so I didn’t know exactly how long I ended up sleeping, just that I drifted off at some point and woke up later, still tired, to Pumpkin slapping me in the face with his paw.

“Stop that,” I groaned, which was a mistake, because Pumpkin took the opportunity to shove a piece of hardtack into my mouth.

For those unfamiliar with it, hardtack is a biscuit made out of flower and water, baked hard enough that it could last for years, and only burrowing insects could hope to make a dent into it while stored. Once a ubiquitous source of food prior to the advent of refrigeration, it had fallen out of fashion on Earth centuries ago, largely relegated to the role of emergency rations for soldiers, campers and doomsday preppers. I wasn’t sure which category our merry band of outlaws fit into, and resolved not to think about it in favour of chewing. It didn’t taste too bad, like a really dry cracker with a side of dental pain, though I certainly wouldn’t want to eat it for months on end like the voyagers of yore. I washed down the crumbs with a bit of water, taken straight from my inventory, before finally pulling myself upright to welcome the new day.

We reconvened in the corridor, all of us looking rather worse for wear; both Harvey and Kyle sported prominent bags under their eyes, showing that I wasn’t alone in my lack of sleep. Pumpkin was the only one to remain energetic, climbing up my body to sit on my head, his paw outstretched like a navigator pointing the way to the horizon.

“Alright, it’s been over twelve hours since we came down here. The battle should be over, so it’s time to take the lay of the land,” Harvey explained, pulling out the map from before for us to take a look.

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“As a local resident, is there anywhere in particular we should go?”

“The top district will be sealed off for sure,” Kyle replied, running a finger across the north wall for emphasis. “Everything closest to the wall, only nobles, their servants and the military live and work there, meaning they’ll all be on high alert after such a brazen attack on the city. Even if you somehow got it, you’ll be found and detained in no time at all. Everywhere else is fair game.”

“Alright, we’ll leave the nobility alone. In that case, let’s split up to cover the rest of the city. We’re currently in the Residential Ring immediately below the noble district. Directly south of us is the Merchant’s District we came from, right in the middle of the city. Everything else branches off from there, with the Main Gates directly south again. From there, you’ve got the old city Slums to the south east, the Industrial Quarter to the north east, and the entire west side dominated by the Services: everything from the guilds that organise and regulate tradesmen, to banking and law, to the various churches and schools of magic recognized by the Kingdom of Frontier. That’s it, in theory at least, reality isn’t quite so neat and tidy, but this is a good starting point, if you’ve got any preferences.”

“I know my way around the Slums and Industrial Quarter,” Kyle spoke up immediately. “Hopefully at least some of the regulars survived the night, and might know just what’s going on in the world.”

“Let me check out the Services,” I offered after him.

I had no illusions that it would resemble the City of London in any way, shape or form, the existence of magic alone precluded that, but it was still the closest I’d get to my previous world, so hopefully some of the experience would carry over.

“That works out well, since I spent most of my time in the Merchant’s District and Residential Ring, so I’ll hold down the fort here.” Harvey concluded, putting the map away. “Remember, this first excursion is just to test the waters, and see how badly Heaven’s Reach got hit. If you find a chance to sell some product, take it, but that’s not the priority at this point.”

Kyle and I both nodded, neither of us keen to draw the attention of law enforcement literally a day after a major invasion, and with that, our day began. Harvey pressed the concealed panel from before, returning the staircase to operation, and I led the way up this time, bringing us back into the afternoon light. The dull and overcast weather seemed to set the mood for the city, one that had clearly seen better days. From our vantage point, I could see several craters where entire blocks of buildings had ceased to exist, many more areas burnt down to nearly nothing (The Dead Horse among the latter), and plenty more damage of a lesser scale. Even the Residential Ring hadn’t been spared, I noted, as I stood back to let a row of burly men pass by, the convoy carrying long wooden planks and boards intended for reconstruction.

“Alright gang, let's split up and look for clues.”

Pumpkin leaned down to give me a funny look at that, but didn’t object as we made our way back down the mountain.